Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Undead
by AussieBullDog
Summary: Joyce and Buffy go out for the evening, and leave Dawn with a babysitter who's not what she seems ...


TITLE: Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Undead  
  
AUTHOR: BulldogPhilbo  
  
RATING: PG  
  
FEEDBACK: See, it's this thing where you read someone else's fic, then you tell the writer what you thought of it. The writer gets enough good feedback, they keep writing. Everybody wins.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon? Yes. Me? No. Enough said.  
  
DISTRIBUTION: You want it? You can have it. Just let me know where to see it.  
  
SPOILERS: Maybe some vague Season 3, but probably nothing.  
  
SUMMARY: Joyce and Buffy go out for the evening, and leave Dawn with a babysitter who's not what she seems ...  
  
***  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
This sux. I so don't need a babysitter.  
  
Mom and Buffy are going out to some dinner party the people at Mom's gallery are throwing, and they're leaving me behind at home with a stupid babysitter. Her name's Mrs. Barlow. What a dumb name. I'm thirteen now, I can take care of myself. Big deal if there are vampires in Sunnydale, I'm not stupid enough to invite one in.  
  
Try telling that to Mom though. She rarely ever let me do anything before, but since she found out that Buffy's the Slayer, she totally won't let me out of her sight!! She's only leaving me behind tonight because "it's a grownups thing, Dawnie", so why is she taking Buffy with her?? She's not a grownup. She'll probably just sneak away halfway thru the meal and go see Angel again.  
  
Uh-oh, Mom's calling me. I gotta go.  
  
This sux.  
  
D.  
  
***  
  
Dawn came down the stairs to see Joyce and Buffy putting on their coats, getting ready to leave. Joyce looked at Dawn, and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Dawnie, we've gotta go now. Mrs. Barlow called and said she was running a little bit late, but that she'll be here any minute, so you're gonna have to stay here by yourself for a few minutes until she gets here. Please be nice to her; she's the only person I could find to watch you at such short notice."  
  
Dawn looked at her mother, scowling. She couldn't believe her mother was actually apologizing to her for letting her enjoy some time to herself for a few minutes.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, Mom," Buffy said encouragingly. "Dawnie will be fine alone for a few minutes. She's our little trooper." The Slayer reached up, and ruffled her younger sister's hair.  
  
Dawn's scowl grew even deeper, and she glared at Buffy. Neither Buffy nor Joyce seemed to notice her bad mood. All caught up in their own stupid selfish selves, just like always.  
  
"Well, Dawnie, try to stay out of trouble tonight. I've left instructions for the babysitter on the fridge, and remember, bedtime is nine o'clock sharp. No staying up after your bedtime, and absolutely no snacking. Dinner's in the oven. All you need to do is let Mrs. Barlow know to take it out of the oven in half an hour when she gets here. Bye-bye, sweetie."  
  
Joyce kissed her youngest daughter on the cheek, and the two of them left. As soon as the front door closed, Dawn stuck her tongue out petulantly at the space they'd just been standing in. Then she turned around, and went back upstairs. Let the stupid babysitter let herself in and come up and find her.  
  
***  
  
Five minutes later, a woman walked up the steps to the Summers front porch, and knocked at the door. Nobody answered for a couple of minutes, so she knocked again, harder this time. As she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, accompanied by a loud groan from the young girl on the other side of the door, she quickly wiped the last of the blood from her lips.  
  
***  
  
Faith yawned. Patrolling sure was going wicked slow tonight. She'd been wandering through Sunnydale's numerous cemeteries for over two and a half hours now, and she hadn't encountered so much as a rat scurrying between the tombstones, let alone any vampires.  
  
Deciding to call it a night, she decided to head over to Buffy's place and hang out for a while. God knew there wasn't much else to do in this town when you're not staking vamps. She tucked her stake into her jacket sleeve, and headed off, strolling at half-speed. It was a nice night, and there was no need to rush.  
  
***  
  
Buffy's bedroom window was locked, but not in any serious way. As Faith climbed in through the window and into Buffy's room, she heard sounds of a struggle coming from the hallway just outside. She had knocked at the front door, and gotten no answer, so she assumed nobody was home, but it looked like she was wrong.  
  
Running out into the hallway, Faith was startled to see Dawn being pushed up against the wall by a middle-aged woman with quite a large set of fangs. Thinking quickly, the dark-haired Slayer withdrew her stake from her jacket, and spun Dawn's attacker around by the shoulder. The vampire hissed at Faith, squinted at her a little, and lashed out at her with a closed fist. Fortunately, the vampire didn't seem to possess a lot of fighting skills (she had been a middle-aged woman with bad eyesight, after all), and was an easy stake for the dark-haired Slayer. One duck, followed by one forward thrust with her stake, and it was adios, vampire.  
  
As the dust settled into the carpet, Faith looked at Dawn. "You okay, kiddo?"  
  
Dawn looked pretty freaked, but she said, "Yeah, I'm good." She took a few deep breaths, and seemed to calm down a little. "That was a close one though."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Well, you should know better for inviting a stranger into your house that turned out to be a vampire who nearly killed you!" she exclaimed, a little annoyance creeping into her voice. Faith had only known Dawn for a short time, but she had a soft spot for the kid. She never had a baby sister of her own. Just one more reason to be envious of Buffy and wish she had her co-Slayer's life.  
  
"I so did not invite her in!" Dawn burst out defiantly. "Mom did! She was my babysitter."  
  
Faith was surprised to hear this. "Well, I'd say congratulations, kiddo. You've just struck gold."  
  
Dawn was confused. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, the next time Joyce tries to lecture you on the dangers of letting vamps into the house, you just say, 'Hey, Mom, guess what? I've invited one less vampire into the house than you have.' That'll show her." The dark- haired Slayer smiled triumphantly.  
  
Dawn shook her head vigorously. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I could never tell Mom a vampire almost bit me tonight, even if it is really her fault. I'll just tell her the babysitter got sick and went home, or something. If she found out about this, she'd never let me out of her sight again. She'd probably handcuff herself to me so she could watch me twenty-four-seven. And Buffy would be the same way. Between the two of them, I'd never have a moment's privacy again." The thirteen-year-old looked up at Faith pleadingly. "Please don't tell anybody, OK?"  
  
Faith thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "OK, kiddo, it's your call. It'll just be our little secret."  
  
Dawn smiled, relieved. "Thank you."  
  
"Come on, kiddo. Let's go downstairs and get something to eat. I'm wicked hungry. Then you can show me where you guys keep your Dust Buster."  
  
***  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you think Dawnie's alright at home?"  
  
"I'm sure she's fine."  
  
"I just ... I have this bad feeling. I can't help worrying that she's just going to get herself into trouble."  
  
"Mom, stop worrying. Dawnie can take care of herself. And the babysitter's there with her. For the last time, there is nothing to worry about."  
  
Buffy smiled reassuringly at her mother, and Joyce returned it. Then the two of them went back to their roast lamb.  
  
THE END 


End file.
